NUNEATON face the rare pressure of maintaining their momentum when they travel to Sedgley Park tomorrow.

The Nuns ended their four-month wait for a victory when they saw off Blackheath 22-10 last weekend. But that welcome breakthrough still leaves them 21 points shy of current relegation cut-off line, and they know that they need several more of the same if they are to have any hope of clinging on to their National One status.

Head coach Mike Umaga was delighted that his charges at last managed to produce “that final five-per-cent that gets you over the line.” But he won’t be changing his one-game-at-a-time approach against the men from Manchester, who collected a 33-24 victory at Liberty Way in November.

With Manchester long since doomed to the drop, Umaga is looking for a sustained run to ramp up the psychological pressure on the half-dozen teams above Nuneaton, including Sedgley Park who are fifth from bottom.

National Two neighbours Rugby and Broadstreet are also on the road – the Lions making the short trip to face their Leicester namesakes while Street head north to tackle Preston Grasshoppers.

Rugby are certainly travelling in hope, having seen off Bradford & Bingley last week to consolidate their top-five position. But hosts Leicester– four places and nine points adrift – have two matches in hand and will be bolstered by memories of a 25-14 victory at Webb Ellis Road in November, so Rugby are hoping that a sizable contingent of their supporters will be at Lutterworth Road.

Rugby’s win against Bradford did Broadstreet a major favour but the Coventry side remain very much in the danger zone after their gallant 24-8 reverse against table-topping Loughborough Students.

They fought out a 10-10 share with the Grasshoppers earlier in the season